Tidewater Southern Railway
Stanislaus River Trestle
The Tidewater Southern boasted two large wooden trestles for most of its existance. The more accessible and better known Tuolume River Trestle was built as part of the extension to Turlock and
Hilmar. Located just south of central Modesto, this classic wood trestle burned in June, 2001. The other is the Stanislaus River Trestle, built as part of the original electrified mainline in the summer and fall of 1912. Until the mid-1950's, the north end of the span
featured several truss spans. In the spring of 1955, as part of the general upgrading of the mainline, the trestle was strengthened and the through truss spans replaced with deck plate girder spans. According to an old issue of The
Western Railroader (May '55), these spans are actually 2 former Western Pacific turntables! Removed from Winnemucca and Elko, these 110' tables were refurbished and joined with a newly built 30' span to complete the rebuilt bridge.
It remains in service today, the last big bridge on the Tidewater.
date unknown. TS 202 leads a southbound interurban train across the Stanislaus River Trestle. The presence of 2
Central California Traction trailers suggests that this is probably a weekend picnic train. The two through truss spans are visible in the distance. They would be replaced when the trestle was upgraded.
photo by R. C. Brandt
March 12, 2006 Another view from the south end, on the opposite side of the tracks from where R. C. Brand took the photo above. The wooden section of the trestle has changed little in the 70-80
years since the previous photo. The area below the trestle is now a private golf course/country club.
photo by Eugene John Vicknair
March 12, 2006 A detail of the north end abutment. According to The Western
Railroad article, this is one of the two ex-WP turntables. Just below the purple graffiti tag, one can see a bracket attached to the span. There were several brackets found on the trestle and they appear to match locations for
mounting the motors used to rotate the turntables. Also of note is the abutment itself. The large wood beam on top of the concrete hold back the ballast. It appears that the original 1912 abutment from the through truss was
reused and proved a little low for the deck plate spans. The TS simply placed the wood beam and piled ballast up to match the height.
photo by Eugene John Vicknair
March 12, 2006 An overview of the north end, showing
the two long spans. The joint between the spans was clearly visible on top of the second concrete support from the left. Judging by the look of the concrete, I suspect these were poured when the bridge was rebuilt. The fifth
support, farthest to the south, look different from the others. It was here, between piers 4 and 5, that a small section (reported to be 30' long and built new in 1954) is located. Since we know that the 2 through trusses were of
roughly equal length, it is likely that the TS removed the single pier between them and poured the 4 new piers to match the former turntables and the small section. It also appears that the new section also rises slightly to the north
when compared to the wood section, compensating for the height difference at the north abutment.
photo by Eugene John Vicknair